I wonder what it was that you wanted to hear when asking this question. If it was a compliment, then you got it already. You probably didn't want the truth, or did you?
Numismatically (that is not in market terms), the collection for you must be worth more that $200 since you learned some history, geography, metallurgy, economy, got some new friends while putting it together.
I didn't check, but probably the book value is also somewhere around the said amount.
The market value though is a totally different story. Ask yourself how much would you pay for these coins if somebody wanted to sell them to you. The great majority of the 175 coins are so common that there is no demand for them on the market, therefore they are practically impossible to sell above face value. With an exception of 5 to 10 coins the remaining coins could only sell in bulk, say at $5 a hundred. In Europe there are dealers who sell similar coins in buckets for 6-7 Euro per Kilo. Optimistically your collection could bring up to $70 within one month, though I don't think it is worth more than $50.
If you want your collection to be an investment and watch it double or triple its value in 5-7 years, you need to buy today circulation coins which are at least $10 each, the older is usually the better, and in the best possible condition for the money you can spend (better UNC, if not - XF, try not to go for less). Avoid graded coins and coins issued for collectors only (these are overpriced already and will not grow in value as quick as raw coins, or require higher initial investment).
Sorry, if my words are a cold shower, but they are truth, and the earlier a collector understands this, the better for him. That is if he is looking at his hobby not only as means of self education and pure pleasure of holding history in his hands, but also hopes to get some palpable return on his investment. It took me the first 5 or 7 years of collecting to understand this. Coins I bought a quarter of a century ago for 20-50 cents are still worth maybe 50 cents or $1, if I am lucky to find a buyer. Coins which I bought for a $100 a piece some 20 years ago are worth $2500-$3000 today. Thus you need to decide what you want from your collection and build it up accordingly, either increasing in numbers through swaps and planning to give it someday to grandchildren to play with, or building it up in quality, numismatic and market value.
I collect coins and tokens which circulated in Africa from 18th century to 2000. I sell about 7000 illustrated world coins from http://www.avscoins.com.
Quote: AndreyI wonder what it was that you wanted to hear when asking this question. If it was a compliment, then you got it already. You probably didn't want the truth, or did you?
Numismatically (that is not in market terms), the collection for you must be worth more that $200 since you learned some history, geography, metallurgy, economy, got some new friends while putting it together.
I didn't check, but probably the book value is also somewhere around the said amount.
The market value though is a totally different story. Ask yourself how much would you pay for these coins if somebody wanted to sell them to you. The great majority of the 175 coins are so common that there is no demand for them on the market, therefore they are practically impossible to sell above face value. With an exception of 5 to 10 coins the remaining coins could only sell in bulk, say at $5 a hundred. In
Europe there are dealers who sell similar coins in buckets for 6-7 Euro per Kilo. Optimistically your collection could bring up to $70 within one month, though I don't think it is worth more than $50.
If you want your collection to be an investment and watch it double or triple its value in 5-7 years, you need to buy today circulation coins which are at least $10 each, the older is usually the better, and in the best possible condition for the money you can spend (better UNC, if not - XF, try not to go for less). Avoid graded coins and coins issued for collectors only (these are overpriced already and will not grow in value as quick as raw coins, or require higher initial investment).
Sorry, if my words are a cold shower, but they are truth, and the earlier a collector understands this, the better for him. That is if he is looking at his hobby not only as means of self education and pure pleasure of holding history in his hands, but also hopes to get some palpable return on his investment. It took me the first 5 or 7 years of collecting to understand this. Coins I bought a quarter of a century ago for 20-50 cents are still worth maybe 50 cents or $1, if I am lucky to find a buyer. Coins which I bought for a $100 a piece some 20 years ago are worth $2500-$3000 today. Thus you need to decide what you want from your collection and build it up accordingly, either increasing in numbers through swaps and planning to give it someday to grandchildren to play with, or building it up in quality, numismatic and market value.
I highly doubt it could be worth less than 100. According to every coin book I own, it's worth 175-220.
You're right most of my coins are of low value, such as the Mexican ones and most of the other world coins in my possession. However it's the British and United States coins that brings the value to 175 through 200.
I don't know what market value you're talking about (sounds like eBay market value) but I judge the value of a collection using numismatic and melt value.
The book value is the same as numismatic value; and numismatic value is the same as market value.
Quote: happycustardI highly doubt it could be worth less than 100. According to every coin book I own, it's worth 175-220.
You're right most of my coins are of low value, such as the Mexican ones and most of the other world coins in my possession. However it's the British and United States coins that brings the value to 175 through 200.
I don't know what market value you're talking about (sounds like eBay market value) but I judge the value of a collection using numismatic and melt value.
numismatic value is the same as market value.
I have to side with Andrey on this one; ultimately nobody is really gonna pay the catalogue value to buy these coins from you. Yes, some of the better American stuff will go for nearer to the book value, but you would struggle finding people willing to pay catalogue value for the common stuff. So in this case your 'catalogue' value of the collection is whatever the book says, but the market value is in reality much lower, especially if you try to sell to a dealer.
It could be an eye-opening experience to take a couple coins to your local dealer and just ask what he would pay to see just how stark this catalogue vs market difference is
Quote: happycustardI highly doubt it could be worth less than 100. According to every coin book I own, it's worth 175-220.
You're right most of my coins are of low value, such as the Mexican ones and most of the other world coins in my possession. However it's the British and United States coins that brings the value to 175 through 200.
I don't know what market value you're talking about (sounds like eBay market value) but I judge the value of a collection using numismatic and melt value.
numismatic value is the same as market value.
I have to side with Andrey on this one; ultimately nobody is really gonna pay the catalogue value to buy these coins from you. Yes, some of the better American stuff will go for nearer to the book value, but you would struggle finding people willing to pay catalogue value for the common stuff. So in this case your 'catalogue' value of the collection is whatever the book says, but the market value is in reality much lower, especially if you try to sell to a dealer.
It could be an eye-opening experience to take a couple coins to your local dealer and just ask what he would pay to see just how stark this catalogue vs market difference is
I will agree with you when trying to sell on eBay, it is virtually impossible to get someone to buy for the numismatic value.
But when selling in say a coin shop it can get sold for the real value.
EDIT I looked up most of my coins on eBay, like the 1922 peace dollar, and they are almost all going for the same price as the coins books say..
Quotewhen trying to sell on eBay, it is virtually impossible to get someone to buy for the numismatic value
Just a couple weeks ago I saw a set of 9 Rhodesia coins worth $3.05 according to NGC sold for $26 plus shipping. And I've seen more examples of this (not as much over catalogue though). It is just like anything else in this world - demand drives prices. I haven't looked at your collection but I'm guessing that most of the coins have zero demand even though they may have decent catalogue value. So I would side with Andrey as well.
But please don't be discouraged by these comments, and don't think that people are bashing you. It takes time to realize how all this really works. And you have to decide for yourself what is your goal.
I personally collect for the pleasure of collecting and don't really care what the total value of my collection can be. I'm sure if I take it to a local dealer I won't be able to get more than 50% of its catalogue value (on average).
Quotewhen trying to sell on eBay, it is virtually impossible to get someone to buy for the numismatic value
Just a couple weeks ago I saw a set of 9 Rhodesia coins worth $3.05 according to NGC sold for $26 plus shipping. And I've seen more examples of this (not as much over catalogue though). It is just like anything else in this world - demand drives prices. I haven't looked at your collection but I'm guessing that most of the coins have zero demand even though they may have decent catalogue value. So I would side with Andrey as well.
But please don't be discouraged by these comments, and don't think that people are bashing you. It takes time to realize how all this really works. And you have to decide for yourself what is your goal.
I personally collect for the pleasure of collecting and don't really care what the total value of my collection can be. I'm sure if I take it to a local dealer I won't be able to get more than 50% of its catalogue value (on average).
I certainly don't think you guys are "bashing" me, all you're doing is trying to help. Yeah, most of my coins aren't in much demand, except my U.S. ones.
I also did not want to spoil your mood. Just wanted you not to bet your retirement years on living a good life out of selling this collection. If you want to achieve that goal as well, and not only get pleasure and knowledge from your collecting, then start following my advice on focusing on coins of higher value and the best possible condition you can afford, which in 20-25 years would grow in value more than almost anything in the world economy (including diamonds, oil and gas or IT company shares, gold, other commodities or currency markets) and could become your pension fund.
You don't need to trust my valuation of your collection (I've been actively selling coins for 22-23 years only, previously I was mainly swapping or buying them, which by the way I still enjoy doing ). You can ask Numista members, how much they would offer for your collection, with a condition that the highest bid would be binding, if you decide to sell. Set up a week or 10 days for such an auction, and you'll see yourself how many offers you'll get, and how high they will go. Numista of course is not a market place, but for the sake of a pure numismatic/economic experiment the Numista Team hopefully will allow it. If not, you can also take your collection to a couple of coin shops and ask what they would pay for your collection (you need to sound convincing that you really want to sell, so that they don't charge you for valuation).
I collect coins and tokens which circulated in Africa from 18th century to 2000. I sell about 7000 illustrated world coins from http://www.avscoins.com.
Really I am not collecting for huge sums of money, I was just a bit confused that my coin books were wrong.
All of my books were written by professional numismatists.
I really can't afford rare MS coins(I'm only 14 lol), although I can probably get some nice low mintage coins. I just thought the a******s that wrote those coin books were telling the truth.
Or no, don't get discouraged. 14 is a beautiful age, if I started with coins at your age, I would have been much wealthier by now. You have a lot of years in front of you to build up a really nice collection.
Try swapping some of your coins for better grades, for scarcer (smaller mintage) years. Don't spread your efforts and funds thin, try focusing on one country, or a group of countries, or a time period, preferably going back 50 or a hundred years. Try not to buy very cheap coins (unless you know with whom to swap them or to whom you could surely sell them quickly at a profit): better save to buy one coin in XF than go for 15-20 coins which are only VG or F. The better coin will not only sell easier when you want to sell, it will give you much more pleasure to have and look at. Be careful to store your better coins in coin holders, so that they do not spoil from scratching in a tin or getting green slime on them from a cheap coin album page.
If you get your school mates or guys from your neighborhood interested in coin collecting, you could swap with them, and since you have already more knowledge about coins, you'll have an advantage and could build your collection quicker, even make some profit in the process.
Good luck!
I collect coins and tokens which circulated in Africa from 18th century to 2000. I sell about 7000 illustrated world coins from http://www.avscoins.com.
Quote: AndreyOr no, don't get discouraged. 14 is a beautiful age, if I started with coins at your age, I would have been much wealthier by now. You have a lot of years in front of you to build up a really nice collection.
Try swapping some of your coins for better grades, for scarcer (smaller mintage) years. Don't spread your efforts and funds thin, try focusing on one country, or a group of countries, or a time period, preferably going back 50 or a hundred years. Try not to buy very cheap coins (unless you know with whom to swap them or to whom you could surely sell them quickly at a profit): better save to buy one coin in XF than go for 15-20 coins which are only VG or F. The better coin will not only sell easier when you want to sell, it will give you much more pleasure to have and look at. Be careful to store your better coins in coin holders, so that they do not spoil from scratching in a tin or getting green slime on them from a cheap coin album page.
If you get your school mates or guys from your neighborhood interested in coin collecting, you could swap with them, and since you have already more knowledge about coins, you'll have an advantage and could build your collection quicker, even make some profit in the process.
It's 10.99, seems like a good deal considering large cents are worth a minimum of 20.00 in good condition, some of the coins in that lot grade vg through possibly even vf.
If you decide to focus on US coins, which is reasonable, since you live in the US, you probably need a qualified advice from a collector of US coins, which I am not.
Though on a lot like this when you buy 1 coin from a group of many, there is no guarantee that you won't get the coin in the poorest condition from this lot. I'd advise to buy what you actually see, not allowing the seller to choose for you.
I also want to a add a word of caution regarding eBay in general. Although the vast majority of people on the planet are good and trustworthy, the percentage of crooks and dishonest people on eBay is higher than in normal life. That is why one should be 18 (if I recall correctly) to buy or sell on eBay. It is so for your protection among other things. Of course with Internet's anonymity one can get around this, and if you do, always read carefully item's description, pay attention to cost of shipping, ratings of the seller. Think twice, or better 3-4 times, if there is a catch which a dishonest person could use against you, before placing a bid.
I collect coins and tokens which circulated in Africa from 18th century to 2000. I sell about 7000 illustrated world coins from http://www.avscoins.com.
Quote: AndreyIf you decide to focus on US coins, which is reasonable, since you live in the US, you probably need a qualified advice from a collector of US coins, which I am not.
Though on a lot like this when you buy 1 coin from a group of many, there is no guarantee that you won't get the coin in the poorest condition from this lot. I'd advise to buy what you actually see, not allowing the seller to choose for you.
I also want to a add a word of caution regarding eBay in general. Although the vast majority of people on the planet are good and trustworthy, the percentage of crooks and dishonest people on eBay is higher than in normal life. That is why one should be 18 (if I recall correctly) to buy or sell on eBay. It is so for your protection among other things. Of course with Internet's anonymity one can get around this, and if you do, always read carefully item's description, pay attention to cost of shipping, ratings of the seller. Think twice, or better 3-4 times, if there is a catch which a dishonest person could use against you, before placing a bid.
Yeah... I only but from sellers with at least 99% positive feedback so I don't think getting scammed will be a problem.
I'm going to try to win a better one at auction if possible.
Hi Friend
I think your collection would probably cost me more than 200 dollars were I to buy it from the best sources I have. The main reason I'm posting is to offer a new perspective. First - congratulations, you've made a fine start at a collection. It appears that you are on a sound track.
I did a similar thing when I started (my main focus and most of my budget went on Canadian coins like yours is on U.S.) while world coins were and are just a fun diversion.
While what others are saying is true in terms of investment growth, few of us do this exclusively (check out some other collections).
Anyway keep up the good work. Good luck finding those large cents.
If you want send me your address by a P.M. and I will send you a few Canadian coins
Good TRADING!
Cec.
Every collector has to face disapointment at least once. Because we all want our treasures to be regarded as treasures, according to the time, money, sweat and research we have spent to put everything together. The sum of book values sounds good as a total value as it's more or less what we have spent to get them. And if we've got "good deals" we're proud accordingly.
But when it comes to selling...
Either you sell on ebeurk, coin after coin and you may get a decent return, depending on demand and luck, but selling 200 coins means writing and submitting 200 sales, and packing 200 coins, and going 200 times to the post office, and so on. I guess, even if you are 14, that your time has a cost (not only in terms of money, but also studying, having fun with friends or sports activities).
Or you sell in bulks to a coin dealer and you will sell them at a veeeery low price, if only they're willing to buy them. Market value for a dealer isn't the price they pay, it's the price they sell. And they know very well how much their time, research, packing, shipping, fees and premiums are valuable.
All these words to say : read all the advices above, they are good and common sense, choose carefully what you buy and collect, don't expect a return, it will spoil your pleasure of collecting (while collecting, the premium is a plus and the "divine surprise" when you or your heirs sell your collection, not a goal in itself, or you will have to collect investment coins, bullions, gold, and so on). In doing this you will always be relax with collecting. Don't forget : it's a hobby
As for myself, if I sell a coin at 60 or 70 % of the price I paid (even with 4 figures coins), I consider the loss as "the price for having held it in my hands and glanced at it all these years" and I don't have any anger or frustration. I'm a happy collector...
Sorry for a long text and if it sounds weird, English isn't my mother language
Pot'
Edit : Ah ! And of course what a collection is worth is only virtual until you have sold it. Up to this point you have just spent money...
Quote: CecBendleHi Friend
I think your collection would probably cost me more than 200 dollars were I to buy it from the best sources I have. The main reason I'm posting is to offer a new perspective. First - congratulations, you've made a fine start at a collection. It appears that you are on a sound track.
I did a similar thing when I started (my main focus and most of my budget went on Canadian coins like yours is on U.S.) while world coins were and are just a fun diversion.
While what others are saying is true in terms of investment growth, few of us do this exclusively (check out some other collections).
Anyway keep up the good work. Good luck finding those large cents.
If you want send me your address by a P.M. and I will send you a few Canadian coins
Good TRADING!
Cec.
Every collector has to face disapointment at least once. Because we all want our treasures to be regarded as treasures, according to the time, money, sweat and research we have spent to put everything together. The sum of book values sounds good as a total value as it's more or less what we have spent to get them. And if we've got "good deals" we're proud accordingly.
But when it comes to selling...
Either you sell on ebeurk, coin after coin and you may get a decent return, depending on demand and luck, but selling 200 coins means writing and submitting 200 sales, and packing 200 coins, and going 200 times to the post office, and so on. I guess, even if you are 14, that your time has a cost (not only in terms of money, but also studying, having fun with friends or sports activities).
Or you sell in bulks to a coin dealer and you will sell them at a veeeery low price, if only they're willing to buy them. Market value for a dealer isn't the price they pay, it's the price they sell. And they know very well how much their time, research, packing, shipping, fees and premiums are valuable.
All these words to say : read all the advices above, they are good and common sense, choose carefully what you buy and collect, don't expect a return, it will spoil your pleasure of collecting (while collecting, the premium is a plus and the "divine surprise" when you or your heirs sell your collection, not a goal in itself, or you will have to collect investment coins, bullions, gold, and so on). In doing this you will always be relax with collecting. Don't forget : it's a hobby
As for myself, if I sell a coin at 60 or 70 % of the price I paid (even with 4 figures coins), I consider the loss as "the price for having held it in my hands and glanced at it all these years" and I don't have any anger or frustration. I'm a happy collector...
Sorry for a long text and if it sounds weird, English isn't my mother language
Pot'
Edit : Ah ! And of course what a collection is worth is only virtual until you have sold it. Up to this point you have just spent money...
Very helpful reply.
edit: Just to make sure everyone knows this, I really just collect for pleasure, but it's nice to have a valuable collection :)
I think I'm going to buy some draped bust large cents to bring up the value.
I would like to know the value of my collection, too many coins but maybe get the top coins, I have no idea how much I spend in the last few years.. So someone can quickly check??
). You can ask Numista members, how much they would offer for your collection, with a condition that the highest bid would be binding, if you decide to sell. Set up a week or 10 days for such an auction, and you'll see yourself how many offers you'll get, and how high they will go. Numista of course is not a market place, but for the sake of a pure numismatic/economic experiment the Numista Team hopefully will allow it. If not, you can also take your collection to a couple of coin shops and ask what they would pay for your collection (you need to sound convincing that you really want to sell, so that they don't charge you for valuation). 
